CNN’s Talarico Debate Ambushed by Young Republican Star

Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images/CNN Welcome to Midterms Meltdown, a special pop-up newsletter from The Swamp—bringing you up to the minute with the secrets the politicians don’t want you to know about the race to November 3.

It is the most consequential election campaign since 2024, and the nooze will be oozing around the nation to shape D.C. for the next two years and beyond.

Our David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, Sarah Ewall-Wice , and Laura Esposito , are getting down and dirty with the inside stories from the battlefields every Monday and Friday.

Melting down in The Swamp today are: Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Mitch McConnell, and possibly the GOP’s second-worst candidate after Ken Paxton CNN’s Transparency With Lone Star Talarico Open to Debate Ken Paxton is hardly the straight-shooting Texas cowboy.

He runs a mile when anyone asks him a question and has not attended a single town hall meeting or debate.

Credit James Talarico then for being the Lone Star at a CNN-Jubilee Town Hall for a Q&A with voters from both sides on Wednesday evening.

But The Swamp must ask if Paxton and Co. were double-dealing by slipping a Trojan horse into the debate to quiz the Democratic Party golden boy, who is ahead in the polls in the deep red state.

After all, wasn’t “Small Business Owner” Sarah Gardner , who joined Talarico at the debate table to grill him on religion, the very same Sarah Gardner , who is Secretary of the Dallas County Young Republicans? We’re sure she votes Republican, and she says on social media that she is, indeed, a small business owner.

To be fair, their exchange was civil, and the Young Republican didn’t stoop to Paxton’s level by lobbing claims that Talarico “hates Christianity.” But if CNN and Jubilee knew Sarah was also a Texas Republican Party official, shouldn’t they have told viewers—and Talarico? If they didn’t know, they should vet their voters better next time.

The Swamp has contacted Talarico and CNN for comment.

Why They Are Choosin’ Texas … Voters deep in the heart of Texas may still trip up James Talarico despite his persistent lead in the polls.

It is one thing to read the political climate in a deep-red state from the big cities.

Dallas, Houston, and even liberal Austin will tell you their own stories.

These are cities that draw the educated, the wealthy, and the young.